Dead reckoning
by Alt-format
Summary: This story takes place immediately after the first transformers movie. If Starscream's search for power isn't for the devious purposes that everyone thinks it is for, why does he want it so badly? What sort of event could possibly have made him both want to hide from it and search for it? And what will happen when he finally finds it?
1. Prologue

**Author's note**

 **This is the basic premise of this story. I will explain who is talking and who he is talking about in the introduction, but this is pretty much what popped into my head when I was trying to come up with a storyline to follow.**

Prologue

 _You said that you'd always be there, always help, that you'd never leave me. But you never were; you never helped; you left me alone. You weren't there when I needed you the most. This isn't how it's supposed to be. We promised that we would always stay together, no matter the circumstances. But I haven't seen you in eons._

 _I must accept that the past is in the past now. That there is nothing that I can do to find you, to get you back. I will never see you again. There can be no other explanation other than that you are offline._


	2. Introduction

**Author's note**

 **This story was inspired by a scene in another fanfic where the Bayverse version of Starscream collided mid-air with an Autobot who was just arriving on earth. That may surprise you once you start reading, but that was where this came from. (It's amazing where my mind goes sometimes!)**

Introduction

I am Starscream, second in command of the Decepticons. But I am so much more than just that. Everybot sees me as an egotistical power seeker, and it is true that I wish to be in charge. But it is not for the reasons that everybot else believes. I strive to be in charge for the sole reason that it is the only way to discover the fate of my closest friend, Moonrise. We parted before the war. She didn't say where she was going, or why she was leaving. She never even said goodbye. Our paths have never again crossed, and I know that she must be offline. But I am in desperate need of closure. To know why she left, where she went, and what happened to her. I need to at least say goodbye.

 **Author's note**

 **I am going really out of character in this story, and I apologize for that. This was written mostly on a whim and was originally not meant to go anywhere except into my notebook, but my beta reader (aka. My mom) liked it and (pretty much) insisted that I upload it here. So, with that explained, please don't be too mad at me for messing with these characters like this.**

 **Moonrise is my OC, but nothing else belongs to me except the plot.**


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Megatron is gone. The majority of the Deception forces have been destroyed, our remnants scattered, and most of those who still function are in dire need of repair. I have fared little better. I am flying now because I fear that if I land my systems will shut down. As the vast expanse of Nevada desert stretches below me, I find that my processor is wandering. _Even now, with Megatron gone and control of the Deceptions finally within my grasp, I will still be unable to determine Moonrise's fate. Even after all of the past eons' work, I will never discover her destiny, though that is all that I've ever wanted since the war started and she left. With our forces this fragmented, there is little to lead anyway, and there would be no resources available for the search for a long-offline bot. But, Stars cream, you are focusing too much on the past again. It is time for the present to maintain dominance or you will not survive. Moonrise would want you to persevere despite the circumstances. But it seems that I have already spent too much time in the past. I can feel my systems start to shut down. My thrusters cut out, and I am falling. This is the end; I can feel it in my spark._


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Just my luck that I crash in the Autobots' base. If I wasn't already terminated, I am now. I close my optics, preparing for the Autobots to extinguish my spark. _At least if they offline me I'll see Moonrise again. Of course, if I allow myself to be offline like this, she'll never forgive me. But I don't have enough strength left to move, let alone fight back._ Optimus Prime's voice breaks into my thoughts. "Stars cream?"

At least he didn't offline me immediately. I doubt that I'll ever understand why not. I can feel somebot picking me up, but my systems are shutting down again. I can feel myself slipping into stasis lock. Maybe the Autobots won't offline me just yet.


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter three

I wake up in the Autobots' med bay, or I can only assume that's where I am. It takes my vision a moment to clear, but when it does I see Optimus Prime standing to one side of the recharge berth that I am laying on. Now I'm in trouble. _They fixed me just so that they could offline me. But, at the risk of sounding like Shockwave, that is illogical. Why waste the resources? Perhaps I'm being paranoid._

"Starscream, are you feeling alright now?" Prime asks. Not exactly the painful vengeance that I was expecting. I thought that he would call in his Autobots to tear me to scrap, not greet me like an injured comrade. Maybe this won't end as badly as I thought it would.

The med bay door opens and the last not I ever expected to see walks in. All I can do is stare at her in shock.


	6. Chapter 4

Chapter four

I can't believe my optics. I blink hard once, twice, but the apparition remains. It is impossible that I am seeing Moonrise here. But this whole situation is too insane for even my processor to have imagined it. If I hadn't known her so well, I might not have recognized her. She looks so… war-torn, but everybot does now.

"Starscream, is that really you?" Her voice is still the way I remember. At least some things don't change.

"You know him, Moonrise?" Prime asks.

"I thought that he was offline."

"I thought that you were offline." I can hear the emotion lacing my own voice and try to suppress it, only to find that I am unable to do so. "You never said goodbye. The war was starting, so I assumed that you got caught in the crossfire…"

"Your sister told me that you approached Megatron and he… he offline you on the spot." I can hear the emotion in her voice as well. Apparently I'm not the only one who's caught up in the moment.

I start to sigh, but end up coughing instead. "Of course this is Imperia's fault…"

"I joined the Autobots to avenge you. I probably would have joined them anyway, but… in a way I was fighting my own personal war with Megatron."

"Imperia convinced me to join the Deceptions with her… she must have wanted you out of the way so that you wouldn't all me out of it…"

"Will one of you explain this to me?" Prime finally rejoins the conversation. I almost forgot that he's even in the room.


	7. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Moonrise and I explain the situation to Optimus Prime as well as we can. He still looks confused, but I think we all are. "You had sympathies for the Autobots and would have joined with Moonrise if your sister hadn't intervened?" He's definitely confused. And that's just the extremely summarized version.

Now that I've actually found Moonrise, I don't know where my loyalties lay anymore. _Do I side with Moonrise and the Autobots, or do I remain with my chosen faction? That's a problem I never thought about before. Or maybe I've always thought about my former sympathies, and that's why I have never been successful for the Decepticons. It's something to consider, at least._


	8. Chapter 6

Chapter six

My sister was a liar. That's probably obvious considering that she was a Decepticon, but she was worse than most. She would make up a lie so believable hat after a while even she would accept is as a fact and stand by it even after it was proven to be false. She was more than simply a lair, she was insane. This is one of the few things about my past that I can say with absolute certainty. So it does not surprise me that she was the cause of my separation from Moonrise. What surprises me is that the deception has lasted for so long after she became one with the Allspark. But there must be some reason why this particular lie didn't u ravel until now, and my mission will now be to find what that reason is, and attempt to make amends with Moonrise.


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Now that I'm well enough to fly again, Prime is practically ordering me to leave because most of the Autobots are ready to offline me and he believes that it would be best if I left before they have the chance to do so.

As I fly away, I think back over everything that's happened to me. _I didn't even have the chance to talk to Moonrise. But now that I know that she is still online, I feel certain that we will see each other again. Hopefully our next meeting will be under better circumstances. Then maybe we can make up for the eons that we lost and recover from Imperia's treachery._


	10. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

It's already been a week since I found Moonrise. Now the situation is worse than before and she's the one in trouble. Fortunately, Blitzwing has finally figured out that I am his commanding officer. _Looks like I'm going to have to approach the question of my loyalties again sooner than I expected._ In the heat of the moment, the decision is easily made. "Stand down, Blitzwing." I order, stepping between him and Moonrise.

Blitzwing gives me a questioning look, but steps back, hesitantly lowering his weapons. Moonrise is driving away even before I have the chance to tell her to. Blitzwing immediately aims his gun at her again, but I knew that he would and aim my own gun at his head. "Don't even think about firing, or I will." I growl, making it clear that I don't want Moonrise harmed. He whimpers, powering down his gun. I nod in recognition of the obeyed command and transform, flying in the direction that Moonrise had gone. I can hear him yelling at me, but I ignore him. He is asking for an explanation that he would never understand or accept.

 _The answer is simple, Blitzwing. There are no friendships within the Deception ranks, only forced alliances. And the companionship of just one true friend is worth more than the command of an entire army. I've been searching for Moonrise since the beginning of the war, and now that I've finally found her again I'll stand with her forever, no matter what the Deceptions or the Autobots do to separate us._

 _The first success that I've had in eons, and it is one that is more satisfying than any other._

 **Author's note**

 **(Update)**

 **This is all that I knew what was going to happen in this story, and all I'm certain that will happen is the disapproval of some confused and/or angry Autobots. You are free to write your own stories based after this if you want to, as long as you credit me and leave me a comment telling me that you wrote it so that I can read it. I would love to see what you think will happen next.**


End file.
